Rides for Members? For those members wishing to participate in our events but who do not feel comfortable driving in the dark, if you would be willing to give them a ride to and from events that end later in the day, please let Pastor Carla or Janet know so we can help arrange these.
Return to In-Person Worship As of February 13th, we returned to in-person worship. Those who are fully vaccinated (and those children not yet eligible for the vaccine) are welcome to mask and distance in the sanctuary with us each week and for events. Those not yet vaccinated are welcome to join us via Zoom. Our folks have done well with protecting one another, we pay extra for MERV-rated filters designed to filter our viruses from our air in the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, and have purchased air purifiers with HEPA filters for our Children’s Church rooms. Unless a more deadly strain of the virus comes along or our hospitals become stretched thin once again, we will remain in-person for worship for the foreseeable future.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Pastor Carla or a member of Council:
Rev. Bill Burns (Moderator)
Philip Graves (Vice-Moderator)
Charlie Robinson (Secretary)
Michelle Perry (Treasurer)
Mikki Ward
Sam Ward
Merging and Updating of Member Rolls As people move in and out of our community in the ebb and flow of life, it can be easy, especially during times like this pandemic, for us to lose touch with our members. Council will be inviting persons to both help update our current Membership Rolls and to join a Phone Tree of sorts to help maintain contact with one another as a congregation each month. Be watching for ways you can help these efforts.
Theology on Tap 2/27 4:00-5:15pm at 5-Stone Brewery Join us for what is sure to be another great time of sharing and asking questions of one another. This month, we will meet on the grounds of 5-Stone Brewery (which should be FAR less crowded than they were for their Christmas event!). Bring a friend, your kids, your pup, and perhaps an extra chair so we can gather somewhere quiet and to ourselves. Stay afterward for more food and drink and for the Hymn and Hops Hymn Sing 6:00-7:00pm We will work to arrange rides for those who do not wish to drive after dark, so bring a chair and join us!
Adult Sunday School Resumes March 6th 9:00-10:15am Rev. Bill and Florence Burns will be leading a book discussion of Dr. Beverly Brown Tatum’s Book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations Around Race.” Contact Bill and Florence for more information.
As we gather more volunteer support for our Children’s Christian Education programs, we will seek to make something available for kids during this time so all parents may attend. Please give us time as we re-build, and come help by volunteering to teach by contacting Pam Robinson and Chrissy Gossett!
Newsletter Deadline In order to help facilitate communication after Council meetings the second Tuesday of each month, we will begin sending out our monthly Glimpses of Faith Newsletter in the week after Council meets. For March, please provide all Newsletter articles to Pastor Carla and Janet by March 7th for release later that week.
Lenten Book Study—Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time We will hold this book study in person in the Fellowship Hall and via Zoom from 6:30-7:45pm Wednesday evenings (rides available for those who do not wish to drive in the dark) March 23rd continuing every other week (4/6, 4/20, and 5/4). Bill Burns purchased some extra copies you can purchase from him and others ordered them through Half-Price Books with no-charge delivery. Make plans to join us for an incredible time of sharing and learning together!
Interfaith Pride Service Riverside Pride Fest was such a huge success last year that it is moving to the much larger venue of the Comal County Fairgrounds just down Common St. from the church and will be Saturday, June 11th. Event organizers have given permission for Faith Church to host an interfaith worship service of supportive faith communities and persons of faith to show our LGBTQ+ siblings that God does love and affirm them, and so do we!
Other faith communities in New Braunfels and the surrounding areas are being invited, a committee is being formed to begin planning, and our own active and retired clergy at Faith Church will be asked to vest and process for the service. It is tentatively scheduled for 6:30pm Thursday, June 9th, but that date may change to earlier in the week if schedule conflicts become apparent. To help plan for and/or support this service, reach out to Pastor Carla.
Tiny Home Exploration Update Pastor Carla, Sarah Dixon (Executive Director of Family Promise), and Melissa Elizondo met recently with various staff from the City of New Braunfels, including the head of Zoning and Planning, to discuss the possibility of a Tiny Home Community being placed on our property. They were very encouraging and appear to want to help find an easy way for this project to move forward. An architect is drawing up a rendering of what the whole project and each tiny home would look like to present to the City, who will then work to let us know what the way forward could look like.
Once these things are answered, Church Leadership will meet with support persons from our Insurance Board to discuss what this could mean for the future growth opportunities at Faith Church and mean for our own insurance liabilities. Once this information is all obtained, we will come to the congregation for a much longer and larger discussion, answering all questions before considering a vote on whether to move forward.
In the meantime, Pastor Carla has begun meeting with other groups working to address housing insecurity in New Braunfels known collectively as the Homeless Coalition. Representatives from the McKenna Foundation, City of New Braunfels, Crisis Center of Comal Co., First Footing, Family Promise, Serve Spot, Hill Country MHDD, Connections Individual and Family Services, Workforce Housing Committee, Next Step, and more are coming together to organize and share resources as we seek to address the growing problem our community is facing.
Help Needed to Support Our Missions Pastor Carla and Faith Church needs:
*at least 2 people to help attend this monthly Homeless Coalition zoom meeting.
*1-2 people to help re-establish Faith Church’s connection with the Refugee Network
*1-2 people to help Mike Ziegler decide on microloan lending to various recipients each month
Contact Pastor Carla if you feel called to help support these mission efforts by being a contact person to help relay needs back to the congregation and keep us all informed of what is happening in each of these areas.
